April 03, 2019

Natalia Filyova, aviation superwoman, dies


Natalia Filyova, aviation superwoman, dies
Natalia Filyova

One of Russia’s top female entrepreneurs, Natalia Filyova, who founded the country’s number two airline, S7, died in a plane crash over the weekend. Filyova, ranked #4 on Forbes’ list of wealthiest Russian women in 2018, and was 55 years old.

Filyova co-owned the airline, known for its neon-green insignia, with her husband, Vladisav Filyov, and together they developed it into the holding S7. Natalya was the CEO. The company, a rare example of a family-owned enterprise in Russia, has been on the brink of collapse several times over the past decades, but Filyova’s financial and managerial wisdom has kept it from being nationalized or gobbled up by Russia's flagship airline, Aeroflot.

Filyova died aboard a business jet in which she was flying with her father, who also died, along with the pilot. The plane was approaching Germany's Egelsbach Airport, near Frankfurt, and the pilot gave no indication that the plane was experiencing any problems. The aircraft crashed into an asparagus field several kilometers from the landing strip and was incinerated on impact.

In another dark twist of fate, the first police car dispatched to the scene had a terrible head-on collision en route, killing a young couple and landing all three officers in the hospital.

In 1998, the Filyovs bought Sibir, then a struggling company based in Novosibirsk, for 20 million dollars. Few believed their risky venture would be successful, considering the notoriously low profit margins in the airline industry. Yet over the next decade the couple turned the company around, joined the IATA, acquired Vnukovo Airlines to expand its route map, phased out their fleet's Soviet-made Tupolev aircraft and rebranded the company into S7 with its lime-green, Boeing planes. Today the fleet numbers over 60 planes.

Described as trailblazers in the industry, S7 famously teamed up with the band OK Go to produce the first zero-gravity music video in an Ilyushin plane flown over Moscow region’s Zhukovsky test site.

Natalia Filyova was born in Novosibirsk, where she received a degree as a radio engineer. She and her husband have four children, one of whom was adopted.

“Natalia was the center of this company, she was the idealogue, the person who set goals, selected personnel, and was the leader in their tandem,” former aviation colleague Vladimir Tasun said.  Pyotr Mironenko, a long-time Russian aviation correspondent working for business website The Bell, called Filyova one of the most decent entrepreneurs he’s ever met.

She “combined humanity and the entrepreneurial spirit, the romance of aviation and the understanding of the industry’s global development trends,” said Irkutsk airport development director Andrei Andreyev.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955